Poultry farming as a small business from A to Z
The idea of creating your own business has recently received a lot of adherents. However, this does not surprise anyone: the relatively low costs and high early maturity of the bird make it possible to quickly recoup all costs and receive considerable profits.
But turkey meat is much better in nutritional and taste properties, it is much more expensive, and if imported abroad on Christmas Eve, it can even make a businessman rich.
However, every year these products are becoming more and more popular in our country.
Of course, we do not call for abandoning chicken breeding. All the information that is given in our article can be used with some success for this. It is only necessary to note that a home chicken farm should use a cellular scheme of keeping, since when free-range there is a high risk of salmonellosis in chickens.
General information
As with other livestock businesses, organizational issues need to be carefully considered. A lot of funds are spent on the purchase or lease of the very complex for breeding birds, for the purchase of feed, the purchase and adjustment of all equipment, as well as for the purchase of young breeding stock.
If everything is organized correctly, then the production can pay for itself in a couple of years. The profitability of such a business is very high, reaching 98%. The size of the investments depends a lot on your climate zone.
A turkey can add up to 145 grams per day, a turkey about 90 grams. The advantage of turkeys over chickens is that they are practically not susceptible to typical diseases, the ratio of slaughter weight to the yield of pure meat is 81% or more, and the cost of a kilogram of finished products is very low.
In chickens, this figure is much more modest, but broilers can show even 85% of meat yield.
Breed selection
Unfortunately, breeding turkeys at home often involves choosing a breed according to the "residual principle". However, even more often they use hybrid birds for cultivation, which do not differ in high productive qualities at all. So, even adult males rarely weigh more than five kilograms, which is very small for turkeys.
Experts believe that poultry farming as a small business shows the most optimal results when the Bronze Broad-breasted turkey breed is used in breeding. The males of these birds weigh 15 kg. Despite the fact that the breed was originally bred in America, it has taken root very well in our country. The advantage and disadvantage of these turkeys is the fact that they are only intended for cage keeping.
Among other things, females of this breed give 120 (and sometimes 150) eggs per year, which is almost a record figure for turkeys. They are about 80% fertilized. The first slaughter can be carried out at only 20 weeks of age. Females by this time reach a weight of 7 kg, and males sometimes grow up to 13 kg.
The agricultural business is gaining momentum every year. He absolutely justifies himself. Poultry fillet is currently recognized as the most popular product.
Advantages of this direction of own business:
- Our contemporaries began to take their health seriously, and more and more often eat low-fat and dietetic foods, for example, chicken meat.
- You don't need to invest a lot of money to develop your own business. For a start, a few thousand rubles are enough, and most importantly - time and desire.
What to start doing in the village?
You all know very well that the inhabitants of settlements, villages, grow and keep various birds to feed their families. A rather small number of rural residents think about this as a way of earning money. If you start doing this professionally, you can get a good permanent income.
Which birds are the most popular at the moment? These are: different types of chickens (layers, broilers), turkeys, geese, quails, ducks, pheasants. Before starting to engage in poultry farming, you should determine the direction, demand for products, and the presence of competitors. Study carefully what features each bird has, how to breed them. Only then choose a species of bird.
Register your business
Any business that generates income must be registered. Still, first try to breed poultry for your needs, and only then, when you gain some experience, you can register your personal subsidiary farm.
Private household plots are a very convenient type of agricultural business. You will also need to purchase a quality certificate, sanitary and epidemiological permits for the sale of your products and products.
How to keep birds
There are only two options here: in cages and outdoors. When using the first option, you should equip a comfortable specialized room.
Farming is gaining momentum in our time. In particular, the industry that is engaged in breeding poultry for further meat sale. Poultry farming can be beneficial not only from the point of view of an additional financial source. But also ecologically. After all, homemade products grown by their own hands are many times more useful and reliable. This area has its own characteristics: suitable conditions for breeding, the necessary feed and physical and biological data for each bird species. Today we will try to find out which poultry is better to breed for meat at home?
Geese and ducks
We'll start our review with geese and ducks. The owners of these birds say that they are more fertile for growing than chickens. They have a docile nature, plus they are not as noisy as roosters and chickens.
But geese need a pasture to walk on. And for ducks - a specially equipped pond. And so these birds are more or less independent.
The meat yield from broiler geese is very good. After 4 months can be cut into meat.
Ducklings are slaughtered at the age of 4-5 months, just before the molt process, because during this period the ducks lose their mass, and in the future, the feed consumption increases several times. 10-15 days before slaughter, ducks are taken from the reservoir and placed on the ground. The heaviest individuals are slaughtered, the rest are fattened for another 10 days. For growth, give a mash of potatoes and grains. Before slaughter (for a week), it is better to give more green food and limit the amount of protein in the diet.
Recommended breeds of ducks: Peking, Bashkir white-breasted (they gain weight the fastest).
Recommended breeds of geese: Tula and Kholmogorov (it is more difficult and more expensive to grow them, but there is a lot of meat from them). Easier to keep - Lindovskaya and Italian breeds.
Quail
Quails don't need as much space as geese and ducks. Keeping in cramped cages without the possibility of walking will provide the fastest gain in mass for the birds. But it is very important to protect the livestock from wind and drafts, because many birds can be lost at an early stage.
In 2-3 months you will receive birds weighing about 300-400 grams. They can already be used for meat sale. For one season, about 3 batches of quails are released.
Poultry farming as a home business has quite significant advantages: poultry meat is dietary and there is always a demand for it, growing poultry, with proper business organization, promises stable and high profits, you can start a business with a small capital, if only place, time and desire.
Features of the poultry business
When planning the organization of a poultry breeding business at home, it is initially necessary to draw up a detailed plan of activities, which should clearly indicate the key points.
Choice of direction
The most popular types of birds for growing at home:
- birds ;
- ducks;
- geese ;
- turkeys;
- pheasants ;
- quail.
Novice poultry breeders are advised to breed unpretentious species of birds, for example, turkeys. Also, when choosing a suitable type, you should build on market indicators, in particular, the level of demand and competition in your region. It is also important to study in detail the peculiarities of raising, keeping and breeding birds.
Alternatively, you can try to breed several species of birds at the same time, and then choose the one that best suits your capabilities and meets your needs.
Permits and documents for opening a poultry farm
The business registration process can take about two months, and it would be best to entrust the collection and execution of all the necessary documentation to an experienced lawyer.
Rent of business space
At the initial stage, it is not recommended to buy or rent a large area for a poultry farm at once: you may have to change the direction of your activity in the future, and, consequently, adjust the business area. It would be more expedient to lease a plot of the required size, with which problems should not arise in rural areas.
Poultry as a business is a great option for aspiring entrepreneurs. You can start with just a few dozen chickens, ducks or geese, gradually increasing the population. It is important to choose the right type and breed of poultry, as well as to determine the direction of business: egg, meat, breeding or mixed.
Advantages and disadvantages of poultry farming
Poultry farming is an interesting business with a number of advantages:
- high profitability, investments are paid off in 2 years, the third enterprise begins to bring a stable profit;
- the farm can grow poultry of different species and breeds;
- profit comes from the sale of eggs, meat, offal, down, feathers and even poultry droppings;
- you can place poultry houses on any personal plot;
- registration is not required for a small farm ;
- the demand for products is stable and quite high.
Despite the obvious advantages, the business also has disadvantages that need to be taken into account at the start:
- the cost of feed is constantly growing;
- competition from other private farms and large enterprises;
- a well-thought-out scheme for selling products is needed;
- business is suitable only for people with experience in agriculture;
- in order to avoid degeneration, you will have to constantly buy young animals from other farms.
Chickens, ducks and others: what to choose for a novice farmer
It's easy to figure out how to open a farm. The most popular idea for poultry farming is chicken breeding. You can focus on selling eggs or raising broilers. An interesting direction is the breeding of meat breeds. Representatives of this category combine good egg production with excellent taste of meat. Chickens are quite unpretentious, but expensive imported crosses are more difficult to grow, there is a high risk of losing part of the young. Among the most popular breeds:
- leggorns ;
- Kuchin anniversary celebrations;
- brama;
- loman brown;
- highsex brown.
For sufficient profitability, the farm needs to keep at least 500 hens of meat breeds or 40-50 highly productive layers.
Breeding of ducks or geese is no less promising. The bird quickly gains weight, has good performance, thoroughbred young animals have strong immunity. It is worth taking a closer look at musk ducks, as well as geese of Kholmogory, large gray, Toulouse breeds. Duck and goose eggs are not recommended to be eaten, but they can be sold to the tribe. An excellent income will be brought by the sale of meat, by-products, semi-finished products cooked in our own smokehouse. The profit is guaranteed by the sale of feathers and down, goose or duck droppings, which are sold to gardeners.
Business organization: step-by-step scheme
When deciding how to open a poultry farm, you need to draw up a detailed business plan and proceed in stages. First you need to rent or purchase areas in the countryside. A small livestock can be kept in a summer cottage, but such a neighborhood may cause objections from neighbors.